Polish-Jewish Relations: 1,300 Keyword-Phrase-Indexed Book Reviews (by Jan Peczkis)

The Polish American Encyclopedia, by James S. Pula (Editor). 2010

Polish Activism Thwarted Holocaust Supremacism For Once. Bravo California Pol-Ams!

This single volume packs in a great deal of information– biographical data on major and minor Pol-Am personages of virtually every walk of life, Pol-Am cultural phenomena, reviews of major Polish social organizations, Polish American organizations, relations of Poles and Pole-Ams to other ethnicities, statistical data, and much more. Judging by the entries, the primary emphasis of the volume appears to be biographical.

IN CALIFORNIA, POLES, FORCED INTO VICTIMHOOD COMPETITION BY THE JEWS, FOR ONCE PUT UP A FIGHT. THE POLES WON

Poles struck a blow for Genocide Recognition Equality. There is an entry, written by John Drobnicki, on the adventures of the Polish Anti-Defamation Committee. (p. 385). It is a shining example of Pol-Am activism, and of POLAK POTRAFI (The Pole Can Do It.). Founded in 1986, it successfully ending the absolute Jewish monopoly, in one place on Earth, by compelling inclusion of the Nazi genocide of Poles (what I call the Polokaust), in educational activities sponsored by the California State Education Department.

Evidently, some Jews were hopping mad at this turn of events. In 1993, the the Jews’ ADL (Anti-Defamation League) went to court in order to attempt to monopolize the term “anti-defamation”. The Polish American Congress (PAC), concerned about costly litigation with an unclear outcome, decided to rename the Polish Anti-Defamation Committee the PADC (Polish American Defense Committee). Whatever it was called, the organization energetically combatted the Polonophobia (my term), notably Holocaust-related Polonophobia.

The organization tried unsuccessfully for Polish victims of the German Nazis to be included in the Swiss bank settlement. The Holocaust Industry was just too powerful.

POLAK POTRAFI: POLISH-AMERICAN SOCIOECONOMIC SUCCESSES

Now consider some fascinating information derived from the 2000 United States Census. (pp. 56-58). At least 9 million Americans are of Polish descent. Apart from well-known locations, over 100,000 Pol-Ams live in LA-Long Beach, and Minneapolis-St. Paul each. As for economic success, 12.3% of Pol-Am households and 15.2% of Pol-Am families earn over $100,000 a year (currency in 2000). The corresponding figures for earnings in excess of $200,000 are 2.4% and 2.9%, respectively.

SCOPE OF THIS BOOK

The entries in this work are listed in alphabetical order. Each entry consists of a few paragraphs to a few pages, and has sources written below it (not on a separate page). This makes it convenient to look up more information on the subject. Entries contain items in BOLD, and these BOLD items have their own entries. The entries are cross-referenced, in detail, in the index. Thus, for example, Dmowski and Pilsudski are not listed as entries, as they were not Polish Americans. However, these names are listed in the index, enabling the reader to find the entries (actually, page numbers) in which they are discussed.

THE PIEROGI

Because the information in this volume is so exhaustive, I now mention a few entries that I found particularly interesting:

Consider the pierogi. The entry (p. 360) is based on an article by Robert Strybel. Pierogi have counterparts not only in the eastern Slavic VARENIKI, but also foods as geographically distant as the Italian RAVIOLI, Turkish MANTI, Chinese JIAOZI, and the Korean MANDU. The author speculates that the Poles got the idea from the Italians. (But not why the other way around? Or why not pierogi invented independently in different cultures).

And so on… This volume must be read to appreciate fully.